Sweden's Modern Times Group (MTG AB) says its Viasat pay-TV broadcasting
division has initiated a major technical programme to eliminate illegal
pirate smart cards used to access its pay-TV channels in Scandinavia.

"The indications, following today's implementation of the technical change
to the encryption of the Viasat smart cards, are that a very high proportion
of the illegal cards have been successfully blocked," said the company,
which also has plans to convert viewers who sinned.

"These viewers have been misled by pirates into buying cards, which will be
worthless following the actions taken by Viasat," it says. "Consumers buying
12-month subscriptions to Viasat's premium pay-TV service, the Viasat Gold
package, before the end of Wednesday of this week will receive free access
to the 'pay-per-view' event of the year - the World Heavyweight championship
clash between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis."

Viasat says it's also thinking about launching the ultimate anti-piracy
measure - "the replacement of the entire existing pay-TV digital smart card
stock. This latter measure would have the effect of rendering all existing
pirate cards useless."